Capacitor allocation by approximate reasoning: Fuzzy capacitor placement

The problem of capacitor allocation in electric distribution systems involv es maximizing energy and peak power (demand) loss reductions by means of ca pacitor installations. This paper presents a novel approach using approxima te reasoning to determine suitable candidate nodes in a distribution system for capacitor placement. Voltages and power loss reduction indices of dist ribution system nodes are modeled by fuzzy membership functions. A fuzzy ex pert system (FES) containing a set of heuristic rules is then used to deter mine the capacitor placement suitability of each node in the distribution s ystem. Capacitors are placed on the nodes with the highest suitability. Sim ulation results show the advantages of this approach over previous capacito r placement algorithms.